Sarah Campbell has been appointed as the University of Exeter’s first Associate Director for Arts and Culture.

University appoints first Associate Director for Arts and Culture

Victoria and Albert Museum expert Sarah Campbell has been appointed as the University of Exeter’s first Associate Director for Arts and Culture.

She will work with Professor Stephen Hodge, Academic Director of Arts and Culture, and the University’s Arts and Culture Coordinator Naome Glanville to implement the University’s new Arts and Culture Strategy and establish a new Arts & Culture team for the University.

Currently Head of Learning Programmes and Deputy Director for Learning and National at the V&A, Ms Campbell will join the University from January 2019. She joined the museum in 2013 as Head of Schools, Families and Young People. She worked previously at Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge (2006-13), The New Art Gallery Walsall (2004-06), and the National Galleries of Scotland (2002-04), always in education/learning departments.

Ms Campbell said: “I am thrilled to be joining such a prestigious academic institution and having the opportunity to co-deliver the Arts and Culture Strategy. The University of Exeter is world-class in its research and teaching, and its commitment to arts and culture makes for a rich and stimulating learning environment. ‘Activating Creativity’ is at the heart of the strategy and I’m very much looking forward to getting to know the region and making my contribution.”

Ms Campbell has an MA (History of Art) from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, and a BA (History of Art and Psychology) from Victoria University, NZ. She has been actively involved with Engage, the National Association for Gallery Education, for over a decade - as an Area Representative for the West Midlands and East of England, and currently as Chair of the Engage Journal Editorial Advisory Board. She is an RSA Fellow, and was awarded a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Travelling Fellowship in 2016 to spend a month in the US, researching the creative process of museum educators and new approaches to museum learning. She has a long-standing interest in creative learning and enjoys collaborating with practitioners across a broad range of disciplines to create experimental and imaginative programmes for all ages and audiences.

The Arts and Culture team will work across the University of Exeter’s colleges and campuses in Devon and Cornwall, and with creative partners around the South West region and beyond to deliver the new Strategy's mission to ‘Activate Creativity’.

Mike Shore Nye, Registrar and Secretary of the University of Exeter, said: “I am delighted Sarah will join us as the first Associate Director for Arts and Culture. This is a fantastic appointment.

“Our world-leading research and investment in promoting arts in the South West already creates important cultural opportunities for thousands of people in the region. Our new Arts and Culture Strategy, plus Sarah’s appointment, gives us the foundations to create further remarkable work with local, national and international arts and culture partners.”